Coachella 2012: St. Vincent and Feist: Two creative women, two strong sets

[caption id="attachment_92556" align="alignleft" width="260" caption="Feist. Photo: David Hall, for the Orange County Register"][/caption]

Annie Clark, the singer-songwriter who performs as St. Vincent, has eyes like a silent movie star, deep and mysterious, and her soft speaking voice only adds to her sincerity. But in the Gobi tent Saturday evening, that part of her persona was only on display when she spoke to the crowd between songs. For, once each song began, Clark was as electric and unpredictable as the guitar she strummed and thrashed, coaxing unexpected sounds out of its strings thanks to the unique effects she employs.

"You can dance to this next one," she said before launching into "Marrow," which despite its initially slow opening quickly built to a rock 'n' roll tune to which you could in fact get your groove on.

A song or two later, she started to describe the video for the next number she planned to play, and you knew right away this was a dedicated crowd by the way they recognized the song, "Cruel," from her description.

The highlight of the set, though, had to be when she introduced a new song, "Crocodile," and then climbed aboard a burly security guard's shoulders for a lift into the crowd, surfing atop their outstretched hands while singing the song. Nothing silent about this star then.

A few minutes later Leslie Feist, the Canadian singer-songwriter who performs under just her last name, delivered a set that, while different in sound and tone to St. Vincent's, seemed a fitting bookend, in that like Clark, Feist came to Coachella ready to deliver something special.

The Outdoor stage overflowed with her ensemble of musicians, which included a vocal trio of female singers and very full string- and horn sections. (Anytime the band has three trombone players and at least that many violinists you know you're getting the fullest of orchestrations.)

The songs, many of them taken from her most recent album, "Metals," were mostly slower affairs, often building to big finishes, including tunes such as "The Circle Married The Line" and "The Bad In Each Other." Even so, there was a lightness to many of them as well as to Feist herself. After playing "Caught A Long Wind," she told the crowd it was a "an outtake from 'The Chronic,' " a solo album by Dr. Dre, the hip-hop legend who headlines Sunday night. "Do you even know what 'The Chronic' is?" she teased her fans. "This is a Coachella joke!"

She closed her set with "I Feel It," the full ensemble creating a wonderful backdrop to Feist's vocals, but thinking about her performance now, we're drawn to an earlier song in the night, "The Undiscovered First," which asks the question, "Is it wrong to want more?" Nope, not at all wrong to ask. More of this would have been an even sweeter treat.

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